


It's All Over But The Crying

by WalkingDYED



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, Fantastic Racism, Flash Fic, Fluff and Angst, Goblin Nott, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Self-Hatred, Short One Shot, Somewhat canon compliant I guess, i'm not up to date, maybe it's not that canon compliant idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28679232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkingDYED/pseuds/WalkingDYED
Summary: Nott and Caleb get themselves into trouble during a blizzard.
Relationships: Nott | Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	It's All Over But The Crying

Inside the cash register, there was nothing but a few coins; the ones Caleb didn't manage to cram into his jacket pockets. The fool didn't even try to hide his car keys; they were just there, standing in plain sight behind the counter. It was an obvious decision. Calculated, no, but obvious. It's like they say, carpe diem; deal the hand you're given, make lemonade. Try not to drown.  
Caleb didn't want to drown. Without saying anything, he snatched the keys and hurried outside. When the automatic doors opened, he immediately jumped into the knee-deep snow and started walking. His body was still in the midst of that adrenaline rush; his eyes were wide open and alert, looking for that damn car.  
He was already savoring the comfort of the vehicle's heater; what a bliss.  
But Nott; Nott wasn't as fast of a swimmer as her human companion. When the automated doors opened, she didn't jump out. She forced herself inside the store, abundantly inhaling the stale, lukewarm, blood-reeking air. Her heart was racing. Her breathing, violent and irregular. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes. It was okay. Everything was okay.  
She tried to focus for a moment. She rushed towards the nearest vending machine. She hit the sturdy glass panel with her elbow a couple of times, until it broke. She grabbed whatever she could, and followed Caleb into the blizzard. She crawled instead of walking. She looked like a scared, stray dog. Not far from reality, she thought. She kept glaring into the distance, hoping not to spot an unfortunately placed camera or cop. Finally, she spotted her companion; he was inside a black pickup truck. The motor roaring into the night, and making a choking, mechanical sound. Nott hurried inside without uttering a word.  
“Come on, come on...” - Caleb growled under his breath while frenetically rotating the keys inside. Finally, the vehicle turned on. Melancholic country music filled the air as the radio did its thing, and as the young criminal stepped with all his strength on the accelerator. The truck quickly left the scene and embarked on the first freeway.  
By the time Nott was able to draw a breath of relief, they were already way out of town.  
“Caleb... Thanks.”  


The man quickly glanced at her. “It was nothing. We are a team. We have to stick together.” he said, trying to sound cool, and non-caring. Like nothing mattered.  
Nott raised her voice slightly, hoping to get another chance to meet Caleb's eyes.  
“No, it wasn't nothing. It was... Something. It was... Great. Something rare.”  
“You're welcome. Try to catch some sleep, will you? There's a lot of road to go through.” the man quickly dismissed the whole conversation.  
Nott was about to say something when she violently bit her lip to shut herself up. Caleb was right; the night was still long, there was still a lot to do. Not mentioning things can be for the best; the mind is clearer when it's not fogged by bad thoughts.  
It was all water under the bridge.  


Nott's vision was blurred. She felt like her head was underwater; it was all muffled and foggy. But that man, she could see clearly. Just sitting behind the counter. Middle-aged, kind of a kind, calm face. He had exchanged a couple of words with Caleb. He seemed nice. A simple and brief moment of warmth before going back to the usual business.  
But Nott's hand wasn't fast enough, or the clerk's eye was way too keen. He had spotted her trying to hide food inside her vest. The man hurried up to her and scolded her. He called Caleb, he told him to scold his child and teach her not to steal. Nott sighed with relief. It's just children being silly, the man surely wasn't going to cause much of a fuss.  
But the man suddenly widened his eyes and grabbed her by the collar. He violently undressed her, exposing her green skin to the rotting yellow light of the convenience store. The man started shouting, he started tagging and shaking her. He had a pocket knife in his pocket. His shoutings were a river of terrible lies and insults, and names from the past. He was out of his mind.  
Caleb jumped the clerk. He hit the assailant straight on the back of the head. A violent * **thud*,** then nothing but silence. The body fell down, gushing blood from its fresh wound. Caleb hurried, he took the keys and run out. Nott rushed out too but missed him. Now there were only her and the snow, dancing down from the sky and slowly piling up and burying her down.  


Nott's dream was interrupted by a loud roaring. She woke up in a panic and started looking around. She was still inside the truck. On her left there was Caleb, hunching over the steering wheel, pressing his hand against the keys inserted in the vehicle.  
“What's going on?” she asked.  
“The truck. It doesn't move. The engine is busted.”  
The two fell into silence, and the engine did too. The only one speaking was the radio, humming a slow, lullaby-like ballad.  
Nott looked outside of the windshield, and she could see only darkness. They were in the middle of nowhere, running along a ghost freeway.  
“What are we going to do?” she asked Caleb. “We can't call for help, they'll find us out!!”  
“That's... That's not the problem.” Caleb took a deep sigh, and the air filled with his condensed breath. “The heater's gone, too.”  


Nott expected herself to scream, and to panic. To start scratching and screeching, to desperately cling at something, anything. Instead, she just sank into her seat and waited, and so did Caleb.  
One hour passed, then two, then three. The night was still long. Nott could feel the inside of the truck getting colder and colder. Now, if she stretched her body of just an inch, her body would've started shivering. She didn't dare to check the temperature on the dashboard. She instead decided to glance at Caleb. He was sitting there, immobile, his arm crossed and his face staring aimlessly in front of him. Wasn't for his breath condensing out every time he breathed, he would've looked like a corpse. Nott wanted to say something. She so desperately wanted to, but the words didn't come out. She tried and tried, but she could only let out small gasps. She forced herself to speak by stabbing her thigh with her sharp nails.  
"Caleb, I'm sorry." she managed to force out.  
The man waited before replying. He was carefully choosing his words.  
"You don't have to. This was bound to happen, sooner or later. It's just a setback. I'm sure we will be fine." he ended up trying to console her.  
But that answer broke Nott. Tears started filling her eyes.  
"No, it's not true!" she yelled. "Caleb, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my-" she started beating herself over the head, as her voice became louder with every sentence. Caleb stepped in and blocked her arms.  
"Stop it, I mean it. It's not your fault. I overdid it. I should've just run, and-"  
"Shut up, you asshole. We always risk our necks because of me. I always made a mess, and you always clean it up." the tears started flowing from Nott's eyes, and running down her face. "This would've never happened if you just... Ignored me, that one time. You should've never met me. Humans shouldn't be kind to goblins. We always mean trouble."  
"You know that you're just... Confirming that it's all my fault, right?" Caleb showed off a forlorn smile.  
"Yeah, that's what I-" the goblin girl stopped for a second, then reached out and kicked Caleb's leg. "-this is not the time for jokes!"  
Caleb slowly grabbed Nott's head between his hands and bowed down to make their foreheads meet.  
"Listen. You do know how to get us in trouble. But you know what you always get me, too? You make me laugh. You make me feel safe. You never made a day of my life, since I've made you, boring, or mundane. You are always here for me and I'm always here for you, and this means that, at some point, we had to go like this."  
Nott rubbed her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. "We are... A team, Caleb."  
"No, we are a family."  
Caleb then leaned over Nott's forehead and left there a kiss. As he was retracting, however, the goblin girl grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards her, and made their lips meet. The two stayed there, motionless. For that brief moment time was a construct, and so were space and death, and tomorrow and yesterday.  


Water under the bridge.

**Author's Note:**

> Uuuh, like I said, I'm not up to date with Critical Role. I started watching S02 only recently and I'm trying to get some angst and some writing out of my system.  
> Hope you liked it.


End file.
